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I am 54, started gardening when I was 8 doing a neighbors rose bush's and by 10 the home yard, including the hedges were my responsibility. At 12 I got a job doing the small yards and doorway gardens of a six unit cottage complex. By high school I had typically 4 to 6 yards that I maintained after school. I have always dug out the weeds by hand, even in the cracks of the sidewalk and driveways. The best thing for a lawn is good applications of a good compost and occasional seeding and mowing on higher cuts in the summer. I have 32 yards that I take care of right now and those clients that want a short cut have the most weeds, use more water and use chemical fertilizers on their own. I had one client with 2 1/2 acres and the 1 acre meadow was mostly weeds; dandelions, mustard, dock etc. I stopped bagging and moved my blade up on my riding mower and the clippings left behind reseeded the meadow and the grass is much thicker with far fewer weeds. The same holds true for my smaller lawns. Chemical fertilizers do not build the soil and that is what supports the lawn.
Dragon,
You are exactly right.
Chemicals don't build the soil at all.
Only compost and feeds does that.
No chemical nitrogen for me. I use Alfalfa feed
and soybean meal.
Composted horse poo is your friend.
If you want to seed or sod a lawn area, DON"T USE ANY
WEED CHEMICALS.
Your post changed all of suden, no you want sod.
Just rip out as much of the weeds as possible, rake the
soil and get it loose, and sod and water and water and water.
There you go, just make sure the sod has DIRT to ROOT into.
Instant gratification.
LOL
Auxin type herbicides should work for you. 2,4-D is one of them. You do need to worry about volatility/drift, however. If you spray it, put the nozzle end down near the ground, maybe 12 inches off the weeds. And do not get anywhere near your prize flowers or perennials. But the grass itself is not affected by it if you use the recommended dose. Mostly people would apply this in early spring when the weeds start appearing and it is not hot yet.
Honest to goodness, if folks really understood the importance of raising those darn lawnmower blades and using a mulching blade! Sometimes I bag, but mostly.....because I want those clippings for mulch somewhere else...., but generally, I mow often, mow at "mid-setting", and put those clippings right back into the lawn.
I do not water my "grass". I will not waste water, watering grass. I see people scalping their lawns, burning out the crowns and root systems, compacting the soil with repeated waterings, which makes the ground inhabitable by ONLY tenacious weeds. Hmmmm? They water and water and water and use weed N feed..and water and water and "bic" off the damn blades of grass, as soon as they show themselves!!!!
Isn't that like....a woman going to a beauty parlor, spending a fortune on hot oil treatments, highlights and coloring, professional cut and perm.....then going home, taking out the hair clippers and shaving your head? Retarded.
Raise the blades, indeed! When I lived back east, we bought a home on a lot that was sandwiched between two other large lots about an acre each. Our yard was sunken a little in comparison. We stopped using a clipping bag on the mower, and raised the blades so it would cut high. Eventually, our brown spots filled in... AND our yard became higher. In fact, as the years went by... whenever it rained, there would be standing water on each of our neighbor's yards where they met ours. The one neighbor cut his grass on the lowest setting and had a perpetually yellow yard... in a state so moist we never, I mean never, watered.
Raise the blades, indeed! When I lived back east, we bought a home on a lot that was sandwiched between two other large lots about an acre each. Our yard was sunken a little in comparison. We stopped using a clipping bag on the mower, and raised the blades so it would cut high. Eventually, our brown spots filled in... AND our yard became higher. In fact, as the years went by... whenever it rained, there would be standing water on each of our neighbor's yards where they met ours. The one neighbor cut his grass on the lowest setting and had a perpetually yellow yard... in a state so moist we never, I mean never, watered.
It's CRAZY isn't it!? It's just that easy!
Grass clippings are grass food and "turf builder". Mow long. Mow often. It's like the way WE should eat, right!? Small meals.....often. You don't eat a Thanksgiving-style meal once per day and expect yourself to be healthy, right? A little bit....often. Fertilizer for the garden....? Do we calculate...hmmmm, this plant has a 65 day maturity rate...so, 1 TBSP/gal 1x/wk...that's 9 wks, so I'll put 9 TBSP in this gallon of water and it'll be fed for 63 days. Okay! Right on! Feed once and be done with it!!!!!!!!
It doesn't work that way. LOL
I guess one of the things that kills me is when I see this..... a neighbor down the street, has a large lawn. They have a riding lawn mower, rather than a push mower. They shave it short, so they don't have to mow as often. They have an "indoor" job, so they don't get a lot of exercise. Rain or shine, they have a schedule...you'll see them out for their 2 mile walk....3 days per week. Hmmm....because they need their exercise......and they have an enormous yard and a riding lawnmower. 2+2 Forrest Gump.
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, but generally, I mow often, mow at "mid-setting", and put those clippings right back into the lawn. 
I see people scalping their lawns, burning out the crowns and root systems, compacting the soil with repeated waterings, which makes the ground inhabitable by ONLY tenacious weeds. Hmmmm? They water and water and water and use weed N feed..and water and water and "bic" off the damn blades of grass, as soon as they show themselves!!!! 
Hmmm....because they need their exercise......and they have an enormous yard and a riding lawnmower. 2+2 Forrest Gump. 
